Chapter 18 Gillian
GILLIAN
“Watch this!” Bella launched herself off the pool's edge, tucking into a cannonball that sent a wave of water across the deck.
I shielded my wine glass just in time, laughing as droplets hit my legs. “Ten out of ten.”
“Wait a minute,” Peter called from the deep end. “You didn't even see mine.”
From my lounge chair, I watched them argue over who'd made the biggest splash—three nearly-grown teenagers acting like they were eight years old again.
My chest tightened, but not with anxiety this time.
With something softer. After everything that had happened today, after Darren and the fear and Alex nearly walking away from me, this felt like proof that we'd be okay.
Grace floated on her back, pink toenails peeping out of the water. “I vote for me. Obviously.”
Alex appeared at my side with a fresh glass of wine. “For you.” His hand lingered on my shoulder, warm and reassuring.
I looked up at him, reading the question in his eyes. Are we really okay?
I covered his hand with mine. “We're okay.”
For a moment, I thought about what it would mean to Grace and me if we were to merge families with Alex and his children.
Grace and I did fine, but we lived modestly.
The studio made a decent living for us, but we’d rarely been on vacation or spent much on anything that wasn’t necessary.
We had no pool. Or expensive cars. Or this view that overlooked the ocean.
Would it be strange to live here? To be married to a man worth a billion dollars? What did that even mean, really?
A niggle of worry nudged at me. Were our lives too different from each other’s to make this work? Would Grace feel second best when compared to his kids?
“What’s wrong?” Alex asked, settling back into his chair.
“Nothing. Just thinking.”
“About?” His thumb traced circles on my palm, a touch that had become familiar and necessary.
“Not what you think. I’ve been thinking about how rich you are and what that means. To Grace and me.”
“What does it mean? That’s a weird question.” He squeezed my hand gently.
“We have very different circumstances,” I said. “Will that cause us problems?”
His brow knitted as he took a sip of his wine. “What problems could money cause? Isn’t it usually the other way around?”
“I don’t know. It’s just that I have nothing, and you have all this. Will you question whether I love you? Or the lifestyle?”
“Should I?” One of the last beams of sunlight caught his eyes, igniting amber sparks in their brown depths. He set down his wine and turned toward me fully, his hand coming up to tuck a wayward curl behind my ear. “Gillie, look at me.”
I did, and the tenderness in his expression made my throat tighten.
“I know exactly who you are,” he said softly. “I knew you when I had thirty-seven dollars in my bank account and holes in my sneakers. You loved me then. That’s the person I see when I look at you now—not someone dazzled by houses or cars or any of this.” He gestured vaguely at the property. “You.”
“It’s strange for me to think about what it would be like to … live here with you,” I said. “I’ve been independent all these years.”
“That won’t change,” Alex said. “Not unless you want it to. But I reserve the right to spoil you as I see fit.”
I laughed, leaning close to place my cheek on his shoulder. His arm came around me immediately, holding me against him. “I would love you if you were still that broke teenager I fell in love with.”
“Fortunately for me, we don’t need to test that theory.”
“I always thought a billionaire would have private jets and eight homes,” I said.
“Are you disappointed?”
“Not at all.”
“I’d buy you as many homes as you wanted,” Alex said, his lips brushing my temple. “What do you want? I mean, if you could have anything?”
I gestured toward the kids who had now moved on to tossing a beach ball to one another, chatting about someone they all followed on TikTok. “This. This is all I need or want. Family. Happy kids. You by my side.”
His phone buzzed on the table, shattering the moment. The screen lit up with Ben’s name.
“I should take this,” Alex said quietly, regret flickering across his face.
He pressed a quick kiss to my forehead before standing.
I watched him pace near the edge of the patio, one hand in his pocket, his shoulders straightening as he listened.
The sunset caught in his dark hair, turning it bronze at the edges.
Even from here, I could see the shift in his posture—tension easing, relief replacing it.
When he came back, he seemed lighter somehow, and a slow smile spread across his face.
“What is it?” I asked.
He exhaled, running a hand through his hair. “That was Ben. The police found Darren passed out behind his trailer. They took him into custody.”
The kids, who I hadn’t thought were paying any attention to us, all swam to the edge of the pool, looking at Alex, the water rippling around them.
“He’s in jail?” Bella asked.
“For now,” Alex said. “The footage at the grocery store clearly shows him shoving Grace. Ben says we could press assault charges, but …” He hesitated, glancing at me.
“He thinks we should use this to our advantage. Get him to sign over his rights in exchange for not pressing charges and the payout we’d originally offered.
But no contact ever again with any of us or we’ll press charges and sue him for disobeying the legally signed agreement. ”
“Will that work?” Bella asked.
“I think so. He’s loved playing games with us, but I doubt he wants to go to jail,” Alex said. “And the money will be too tempting.”
“We’ll never have to see him again?” Bella asked.
“No. We won’t ever see him again,” Alex said.
Bella gripped the side of the pool and pressed her forehead against the tile, shoulders shaking.
It took me a second to realize she was crying.
Grace and I locked gazes for a split second—a wordless understanding passing between us—as she drew closer to Bella, their shoulders touching.
Peter did the same on Bella’s other side.
Alex reached for my hand, squeezing tight as we both moved to kneel at the edge of the pool. The shared purpose, the unity of it—my heart swelled watching him be the father these kids needed.
I lifted Bella’s chin upward so I could look into her eyes. “It’s over now, honey. We’re all safe now.”
Alex joined me, his shoulder warm against mine. “Bella, sweetheart, why are you crying?”
Bella sniffed, drawing in a shaky breath. “I brought him back into our lives and now I’ve cost you all this money and he tried to hurt Grace and he’s just so awful. What if I did this because I’m just like him? I wreck things.”
“Don’t be a goose,” Peter said, wrapping his arm around his sister’s shoulder before turning toward her. “You take after Dad. Our real dad.” He gestured toward Alex. “A badass. Total GOATs, both of you.”
Alex chuckled. “I’m not sure what I’m the greatest of all time at, but that’s very sweet, Peter.”
“Dad, you are the greatest dad of all time,” Bella said, a tenuous smile lifting the corners of her mouth. “I’m not the greatest anything.” She lay her cheek on her brother’s shoulder. “But thanks just the same.”
“You are, though,” Peter said. “You’re the greatest at caring about people. When you love someone, you give them your whole heart. It’s just one of the things that makes you special. No one could ask for a better sister.”
“I wish you were my sister for real,” Grace said, sounding slightly mournful. “I’d give anything to have one like you. And a brother like Peter.”
Bella turned toward Grace, wrapping her arms around her neck for a quick hug. “You’re already like a sister to us.” She looked up at me, shyness reflected in her brown eyes. “And you’re like our guardian angel or something.”
A lump formed in my throat, rendering me unable to speak, so I simply nodded and placed my hand on top of Bella’s wet head.
Over the kids, Alex’s eyes met mine, and the emotion there—gratitude, love, wonder—made me want to twirl across the patio in a ballet about the greatest love story of all time.
“My mom’s a total GOAT too,” Grace said.
From behind us, I heard Sonya’s footsteps. When I glanced back at her, she was standing quite still, watching us, a smile on her round face that expressed both joy and pride at the sight of us acting like a family.
But Sonya didn’t comment on the moment, merely announced that it was time to eat. “Dinner’s in fifteen. I hope you’re all hungry.”
“We are,” Peter shouted.
Alex thanked her as he rose to his feet, and offered me a hand, pulling me up and keeping hold even after I’d steadied.
I smoothed back my wayward curls. “Kids, it’s going to get cool soon. Go up and shower and put some dry clothes on as quickly as you can.”
“I can’t wait for dinner,” Grace said, scrambling out of the water.
“Me too,” Bella said, seeming to have recovered from her fears—for the time being at least.
Peter and Bella quickly followed Grace, grabbing towels before heading inside.
When it was just the two of us, I wrapped myself around Alex, pressing my cheek against his chest. His heartbeat was steady beneath my ear, solid and reassuring.
“I knew it would all work out in the end,” I said.
He held me tight, one hand sliding into my hair, the other splayed across my back. “You are our guardian angel. Right here on earth.” His voice went low and dark. “I still can’t quite believe you’re here.”
“I’m here. Exactly where I want to be.” I tilted my head back to look at him, and the intensity in his eyes stole my breath. The last light of sunset made his face luminous, softening the lines around his eyes. “And I have no plans on going anywhere anytime soon.”
His expression shifted to hope mixed with vulnerability, like he was standing at the edge of something vast and terrifying and wonderful all at once. He cupped my face in his hands, his thumbs stroking my cheekbones.
“How about you stay with me forever?” Alex asked.